Doctors on the dole

Rising competition for posts may force many doctors to adjust their career aspirations, and plenty of those who seek a place in neurosurgery and other highly competitive specialties may have to settle for a role elsewhere in the health service. Nonetheless, almost all of those who embark on a medical career assume that, having trained as a doctor, they will have a job for life.

This week BMJ Careers reports on a BMA discussion paper that shows that this may no longer be the case (http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/view-article.html?id=20016903). The paper warns that the UK medical workforce may face “significant change and uncertainty which, if poorly managed, could result in preventable medical underemployment and possibly unemployment.”

The BMA acknowledges that medical unemployment “is not currently prevalent in the UK,” and so the prospect of doctors filling Jobcentres and claiming unemployment benefit may be some way off. But it argues that many doctors are already effectively working in roles where they are underemployed, which may include doctors who have taken on fellowship roles after completing training.

The BMA also points to the potential problems posed by the oversupply of medical graduates, the oversubscription to the UK Foundation Training Programme, and the possibility that the programme may open to applicants from across Europe. Beyond foundation training some specialties are already “showing signs of oversupply at CCT level,” the paper says, and this oversupply coincides with a shortage of applications for specialties such as emergency medicine and psychiatry.

Dealing with these problems of oversupply and undersupply will not be easy. But they must be tackled if those involved in planning the medical workforce are to navigate the challenges ahead and ensure that the UK has enough suitable jobs for all UK trained doctors. The public and the medical profession invest a great deal of time and money in training each UK doctor. It would be a shame if inadequate workforce planning led to that investment being wasted.